The strike called by bus drivers and conductors of a transport company in the third week of November that caused inconvenience to Karachi’s commuters entered its 10th day on Nov 25, 1967 with no hope of an amicable solution of the issue. To refresh memory, the management of the company was in no mood to listen to its employees’ demands of providing them with better working conditions. The employees too were not willing to move an inch from their position. While the city authorities had made alternative transport arrangements for the citizens to move around the city, they were not proving enough. A large number of passengers, especially mill workers, had to wait for hours to catch a bus. On the other hand, 105 buses of the company, whose employees had gone on strike, lay idle in the depot.

What was not lying idle that week was the Karachi Red Cross Society. On Nov 22, the society opened a dispensary for the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) settlers who had settled in Landhi because allotment of suitable land for them in West Pakistan was pending. The dispensary was set up following reports of inadequate medical facilities in the locality. They had been living in Muzzaffarabad Colony near the Landhi Industrial Area since January after they left their land allotted to them in the Ghulam Mohammad Barrage Area eight years ago because they, since they were farmers, had found the land unfit for cultivation. For the last 10 months, the settlers, consisting of 112 families (887 persons) had been living in 149 tents provided by the Karachi Red Cross Society.

Of course, things needed to be supervised on all fronts. After all, Karachi was expanding at a rapid pace. In that connection, on Nov 23, Mohammad Jaseem Khan, assistant to the DIG Police, was appointed the Vigilance Officer for Karachi Range to contain delays and irregularities in the police department. His job requirement was to submit a bimonthly report to the DIG and the guidelines given to him included: keep a check on delays, ensure service to the public and punctuality of officials, report irregularities in the system, check on corrupt practices and lack of responsibility, look into complaints and the recording system. Wow! Wouldn’t such a man be utterly useful in today’s Karachi?

This meant that in those days upholding the law was a priority for the city authorities (not that it isn’t these days but we all know what the situation is). Speaking of law, on Nov 24, law books that belonged to the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah were presented to the Department of Archaeology and Museums for preservation at Wazir Mansion. Kasim Dada of Smith Kline and French of Pakistan presented them to Dr F.A. Khan, director of the department. The books were kept on the first floor which contained some of the the Quaid’s personal furniture. They were purchased abroad by the company.

The same day, the Romanian Ambassador to Pakistan Mihai Magheru opened a photo exhibition titled ‘Landscapes and Peoples in the Socialist Republic of Romania’ at the Arts Council. He recalled a similar exhibition of photographs depicting people and places in Bucharest. He said: “Such exchanges of cultural and informative character contribute to a better mutual knowledge between our two peoples.”

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2017